Seeds, seeds, glorious seeds.

Well, as the eatside of the states is being hit with record low temps, we over on the westside of the states have had one of the warmest January's on record.

So what are we to do........start the seeds early.......why not?

With our weird and wacky weather we've have in the past few years, and it's only getting worse, who knows, it might snow in April. But I'm banking on a warm spring and summer this year, so why not get a jump start on planting.

The other day we put out radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, peas and lettuce into two of the covered boxes. One is covered with an old 4'x4' window, the other has a plastic hoop house over it. I'm excited to see when and if anything comes up. I don't know why it shouldn't.

We're throwing around the idea of getting the community garden up and running on our property. So I've been researching the idea and getting spring fever.

ta, ta for now!!

A new pet in the house

We can turn just about anything into a homeschool project.
The kids were given a dwarf hamster from their great grandma last weekend. They've really enjoyed taking care of him, learning about him, and yeah.... writing about him. Luckily they didn't need much prodding to make a giant book about their new hamster Cuddles. They even put in an index. Way more fun then writing about something boring!

The Simple Pleasures!

We have 5 laying hens, and today we got five eggs! I almost needed a small basket. :)

In the winter egg production usually slows down.

Lord, thank You for the bounty You provide in abundance!

I know I need to focus more on those small but wonderful things in life.

Why don't I get to sleep on time?

Ok there are a few reasons.........

1)When my other half has to work nights all week and then sleeps all day and the rest of the family is home all day long, playing, homeschooling, cleaning, etc and "trying" to be quiet. Well, then for some odd reason I have to balance it out in the evening when "I" get quiet time, without having to shush anyone.

2) When I'm planning a wedding!! I have too many good ideas rolling around in my head, and research needs to be done!!!!

3) I've made a bad habit of staying up late and now my body is used to it.

4) I don't have the excuse that I need to get up early in the morning to workout, since I haven't been, since my wonderfulness isn't home to watch the kids at 6am when he does graveyard shift.

By the way, all of the excuses above are why I'm still not in bed.

I know how good sleep is for me.

Shift work is hard on the whole family when one person has to work it. There should be a rule that if they have a family with young children, they should be exempt from night shift.

Next week will be better! ;)

Fasting

Our church is doing a corporate fast for 21 day, starting tomorrow.

I am fasting from eating after dinner time. I'm never really hungry after dinner, I just munch sometimes. So instead of this bad habit I have, I will pray instead and give it up for God during the fast.

A fast doesn't count unless you are giving something up that means something to you. If it was easy to do, then it wouldn't be a fast.

It will be a challenge, but I know I can do it.

Please pray for me. During this deliberate giving up of something, I hope that God will work on me spiritually, reveal things that need revealing, etc.

"The Call to Brilliance" by Resa Steindel

I finished reading a good book called "The Call to Brilliance" by Resa Steindel.

It's about a teacher/mom/woman's journey in homeschooling her children and navigating the "system". It's a great story and a good read. Below I scanned and pasted in the last page of her book. I found it to be very inspiring and reminded me of why I started (although I'm not anymore) working within the public school system. As the Education Advocate for the school district it was my job to find out why kids weren't going to school and how to help the students, parents, and teachers, and principles to have better success in the school setting.

It was a difficult and hard quest, teachers are stuck between two very hard places, the state rules and their curriculum. Teachers have little to no time to build a relationship with the students and no room to be creative in the classrooms, let alone make learning fun and interesting. Unfortunately for too many schools it's about teaching the students to place higher on the standardized tests so the school can meet their AYP's (Annual Yearly Progress) and in return they can get more money. Well, guess what, that system doesn't teach kids anything, and most teachers don't like their jobs, but like their benefits.

Of course there are teachers out there who are trying to make a difference. And those should be highly praised in the school system, unfortunately they are not. they are instead looked at as being too invested into their students and "caring too much". It makes me sad.

I ruffled a lot of feather in my position as an education advocate, and yes, some teachers, principals, parents, and even a few superintendents started to get the bigger picture. But unfortunately my position was cut by budget cuts and now they all wish I was still there to support them all.

This is why I home school!
Sorry it's not very clear, I couldn't get it to scan into Word.

Snowshoeing and sleding at Mt Rainier

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Paradise at Mount Rainier. We were all wanting some snow, so we made the two-hour trek up to the mountain. The snow up at Lake Cushman in the Olympics (near our house) wasn't low enough yet, so to the east we drove.

I was glad after coming up a steep ravine, in deep snow, with snowshoes on, and not be in pain. I don't think I would have felt so well if I hadn't started working out again. I feel like it's all coming back to me, my strength and stamina it is. Happy New Year!!

New Years celebration!!

Happy New Year!! Hello 2010!!

To bring in the New Year we had a fun dinner with sushi, egg rolls, rice, and sparkling cider.

We made New Year crowns, decorations, pictures, and popcorn necklaces.

After dinner we played a few games, shot a few bottle rockets, shot a few inside poppers, and then......went to bed at a decent hour, 9pm.

I hope your your celebrations was fun and safe.

On to 2010!!